.Simply put, The Last Lecture is the last lecture from Randy Pausch — a computer science professor. He is diagnosed with cancer and comes to a place where he finds out it is terminal. He offers up his final lecture to a room full of students and colleagues and talks about achieving your childhood dreams, helping others to dream and achieve and thoughts on what it means to live.

I NEED TO LIVE BETTER.

I’ve been in a not so good place and honestly I kind of needed such a sobering read to make me think about life and the current status of things. Randy’s story touched my heart immensely and I sobbed quite a few times. Though sometimes it seems a little all over the place, I loved the wisdom of this man who was facing certain death and loved learning about him as person. I loved learning how he achieved his childhood dreams, the lessons he’s learned about LIVING in the face of death, what he wants for his family when he’s gone, etc. He’s a stranger to me yet he bared so much of himself in this short little book. I wept for him, for his wife and for his kids. It wasn’t at all about dying but really about living. It was inspiring to be honest and just full of so much truth!

I dogearred so many pages because certain bits of his lesson resonated more where I’m at right now than others. And I think that everyone who reads this book will have lessons that will shake them up more than others. So much wisdom poured out of this one and I smiled a lot, too. I really want to take to heart some of the things that hit me.

I couldn’t help but think of my mom when I read this. Randy is a father and his children are very young and only one will probably ever have real memories of him. My heart broke because the fears that Randy had of dying were more about his children growing up without him…not about the actual dying part. It hit me really hard seeing it from the perspective of the person who knows they are going to die. It was actually really a gift to me and maybe kind of let me see my mom in a different light.

Some quotes I loved (so hard to pick from ALLL my dog-ears):

1. “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”

2. “Too many people go through life complaining about their problems. I’ve always believed that if you took one-tenth of the energy you put into complaining and applied it to solving the problem, you’d be surprised by how well things can work out.” Then later on in that section: “Complaining does not work as a strategy. We all have finite time and energy. Any time we spend whining is unlikely to help us achieve our goals. And it won’t make us happier.”

3. “Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”

4. “The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have. ”

5. “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand. If I don’t seem as depressed or morose as I should be, sorry to disappoint you.”

+ honestly it’s mostly just HOW IT HIT ME kind of thing. Wise, wise man.- Nothing really. Sometimes it was all over the place but it was worth it for what I did get out of it.

Re-readability: Maybe not in its entirety but definitely the dogears.Would I buy a copy for my collection? I have a copy that I had bought and it will stay on my shelf!

fans of memoirs, people who feel like they are in a rut and want to be inspired, readers looking for short non-fiction

The Last Lecture is a short little book packed with so much stripped down wisdom and lessons from a man who doesn’t have much time left because he has terminal cancer. I wish I could photocopy it into my brain to have it there every day to remember these lessons when I’m letting the unimportant things of life get in the way and distract me from what it really is to live. Honest, made me sob and one of those books that has something everybody needs to hear.

* Have you read this one? What did you think? Similar or different from me? I would LOVE to hear regardless!
*If you haven’t read it, does it feel like something you’d be into?
*

There’s a lot of books I read before I started this blog in June of 2010 and I figured it might be fun to spotlight those! They won’t be an actual review because OMG YOU GUYS THAT WAS SO LONG AGO but I’ll just note a few things about it, if I enjoyed it and what my Goodreads rating was. So thus “Before I Blogged I Read…” was born. Because you know…I’m so original with my names for things. Check out PAST “Before I Blogged I Read” posts.

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

(Amazon | Goodreads )Rating: I gave it 4 stars on GoodreadsDate IRead it: September 2009

1. I love interesting non-fiction about the most random things. This definitely fit that bill. I mean, CADAVERS. Who would have thunk it would be an interesting read? IT WAS. She talked about all sorts of things related to cadavers — history type things and cultural things with dead bodies, how sometimes cadavers help solve crimes, what happens when you donate your body to science and all the interesting things that cadavers have been used for. SUPER INTERESTING STUFF.

2. It was informative, funny and never boring. Mary Roach writes in a way where you forget you are LEARNING THINGS. She’s humorous and makes you interested in every word. I think some people think..NON-FICTION = boooooring but this is the most NON-BORING thing I’ve ever read. I promise you that it’s one of the most engaging pieces of non-fiction I’ve ever read. I mean, if you are looking for something super in depth about cadavers this probably isn’t super scholarly but you will walk away with all sorts of knowledge.

3. I got so many weird looks when I read this in public (the break room when I worked at Forever 21). I think everyone thought I was super weird for reading about dead bodies. Okay, it’s kind of morbid in ways but not really. Yeah, sometimes there were some icky descriptions (I will never forget the decomposing part) but nothing that made me want to vom.

4. I’m kind of ticked at myself that I haven’t read her other non-fiction at this point. I love feeling like I learned something but was still entertained so I really want to read her other books. She’s got books about the science of sex, the afterlife, space and alimentary canal. SO INTERESTING.

Favorite Quotes:

“The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you. ”

“We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.”

Have any of you read this one? Did you like it/not like it? Tell me what you thought! Have you read any of her other books? Also, please recommend some interesting non-fiction for meee!

There’s a lot of books I read before I started this blog in June of 2010 and I figured it might be fun to spotlight those! They won’t be an actual review because OMG YOU GUYS THAT WAS SO LONG AGO but I’ll just note a few things about it, if I enjoyed it and what my Goodreads rating was. So thus “Before I Blogged I Read…” was born. Because you know…I’m so original with my names for things. Check out PAST “Before I Blogged I Read” posts.

Love Is A Mix Tape by Rob Sheffield

(Amazon | Goodreads )Rating: I gave it 5 stars on GoodreadsDate IRead it: September 21, 2008

1. It’s a memoir written by Rob Sheffield who writes for Rolling Stone magazine and tells the story of his love story and his loss when his wife suddenly passed away after only 5 years of being married.

2. Music plays a huge part in this book — he talks about his discovery of music, how music brought he and his wife together, their shared love of music and how music helped him through it. Their is a mix tape at the beginning of each chapter and, as someone who appreciates the power of a mix tape and music in general, I loved this. If you know the power of a song or a good mix, you’ll really love this.

3. I cried like a baby for him and thought about my own loss in my life with my mom and how music played such a powerful role be it in memories of certain songs, words that spoke to my soul and how, in my life, music has carried me through the good and the bad.

4. It was a beautifully sad, yet hopeful, true story to read and I really connected to how he spoke of love and loss and music. There were so many lines that I remember writing down in my quote notebook.

5. I also got to meet him and we talked about our own losses and I told him how I can never listen to Meatloaf without immediately thinking of my mom and he wrote me an incredibly awesome message in my book because of that that will always be special to me. He’s honestly a fabulous person and that made me feel so much more of a connection to his story getting the chance to have talked to him after I read it.

Favorite Quotes:

“The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with — nothing brings it all to life like an old mix tape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mix tape tells a story. Put them together, and they can add up to the story of a life.”

“Tonight, I feel like my whole body is made out of memories. I’m a mix-tape, a cassette that’s been rewound so many times you can hear the fingerprints smudged on the tape.”

“Our lives were just beginning, our favorite moment was right now, our favorite songs were unwritten.”

Have any of you read this one? Did you like it/not like it? Can you recommend any other memoirs or great books for music lovers?

This was my first encounter with Laurie Notaro and I’ve concluded that we should be best friends.

Aside from Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty (which has made me laugh more than any other book ever), this is THE funniest book I have ever read so far in my life. Just know I don’t throw bold statements out there like that very often. I have to really mean it. I am not the type of person who laughs out loud too often while reading a book. However, this book had me laughing out loud several times and managed to get me nasty looks at the library. I decided it would be best to read this in the comfort of my own room after that.

Why did Laurie Notaro resonate so well with me?

I think this is basically due to the fact that I felt like everything she was saying was all the things that I think on a daily basis. Her commentary surrounding people and situations were eerily similar to what goes on in my own head when things happen in my life. The difference is between our thoughts is that she is alot more hilarious than I am and can write a heck of alot better than I can!

She takes simple things that happen in daily life–things that irk you or make you upset–and turns them into this hilarious story that has you nodding your head and thinking “Oh my gosh, something so similar happened to me” or “I do that do!” etc. She literally creates these images from a simple interaction with a person or a situation and brings to life this comic event that you can’t help but laugh about.

In general, I just love when someone can make something ordinary/boring/uneventful and turn it into something hilarious, meaningful, or beautiful. Laurie has it down to a science. She can make any seemingly common encounter into one that has you snorting and giggling. Even the things I couldn’t necessarily relate to per se were still incredibly funny. That’s the beauty of Laurie Notaro. She can take things that we has woman go through (dieting, money, relationships, etc.) and delicately let us see the humor in ourselves as we face similar situations, emotions, or events.

I have to share my favorite line of the book: (maybe because my best friend thinks it describes me perfectly.):

In this particular part, she is talking about how she is not a people person and how she is labeled as “mean” sometimes.

Now, I really need to point out that I am not indiscriminately mean; I am not mean to people whenever the mean mood strikes me. I feel that I must be provoked first, although my husband disagrees. In all honesty, I really wouldn’t even identify myself as a mean person; rather, I would classify myself as a Pointer-Outer of Extraordinary Acts of Incredible Foolishness and, on Occasion, Rudeness. Some people, including my husband, would call these experiences meltdowns, but I would rather consider them Opportunities to Enlighten.

I will read every book written by Laurie. I will!

Final Thought: Laurie Notaro will be my go-to girl for a humorous read that always seems to have me going “OMG! I’ve thought that/been through that/feel that” the whole time. She is able to see the humor in the mundane and in the times we take ourselves to seriously and retell it with her wit, snark & keen insights. I highly recommend this for people who are looking for a short, quick funny read that brings a lot of truth packaged in a highly snort-inducing package! You don’t need to read straight through as they are just short stories from her life.

Book Title/Author: 360 Degrees Longitude: One Family’s Journey Around the Word by John Higham

Publisher/Year Published: Alyson Books 2009

How my grubby hands got a hold of this book: I won this via a giveaway on Goodreads.

Why I read this book: If I’m not traveling myself, I won’t pass up a chance to live vicariously through others whilst they are having a journey of a lifetime.

One thing you should probably know about me before I proceed with my review. I suffer from wanderlust, the travel bug, or whatever name you feel compelled to call it. If I could explore the world for the rest of my life, I’d be a happy camper. That being said, you can imagine how giddy I was when this book showed up in my mailbox. I immediately got the goosebumps like I do before I travel caused by that feeling of exploring the unknown and the thrill that there may be an adventure in your immediate future.

I started this book and within a page or so I already had one question. Can I join this family? I mean, for real, this family is kickass. They spend 10 years meticulously planning and saving up for this “World-the-Round trip” (and yes, that’s World the Round) in which they will travel around the world for 52 weeks with their two children that are 8 and 11. That would be enough to make most parents break out in a sweat and bring them to their knees with anxiety. And did I mention that for a good chunk of this time they will be cycling via tandem bikes from London to Istanbul with children and luggage in tow?

This decently thick travelogue is set up like an itinerary with excerpts of the family’s personal journal entries placed in various parts of the stories. There are also added goodies that were included. The book is set up so that at different points you will come to a place where you an go on to Google Earth to visually be a part of their trip. You’ll see pictures, videos, and additional text. I found myself checking out a few of them (and will probably check out more at some point) but found it a little distracting while reading to stop and get on my computer. And the likelihood of someone reading this all in front of a computer is pretty slim. Really cool feature to the book but the novelty wears off after awhile.

Anyways, this book is exceptional. I mean it. The Higham family adventure is one of the best vacations I’ve had from the comfort of my plush little chair. John Higham carefully creates a scrapbooks of sorts as he balances recounting the sights and the scenery (and some interesting facts along the way!) with the family’s personal thoughts and experiences as they face the unknown and explore some of the most beautiful places in the world. He touches delicately on the frustrations and annoyances in traveling with one’s family (such as how two adults can have alone time??) and shares the joys of experiencing the world and growing together as a family. Alot of travelogues I’ve read drag in places but he really knows when not to linger on one country for too long and how to balance reflection, descriptions of people and scenery, and insights on history and culture.

Whether he is describing eating ham sandwiches for months, the challenge of “luggage Tetris,” or homeschooling kids on the road–be prepared to experience the good humor that the family maintains throughout. I’m not sure I could find the humor in French campgrounds with no toilet paper or being stranded in remote places. But somehow this family is able to face defeat, give it a swift blow to the groin and keep on pedaling through some of the biggest hurdles and trials that one could face whilst traveling.

The best part about this book, for me, is that this family seems to be navigating by the same principle of travel that I believe in. Traveling is so much more than snapping photographs in front of historic sites and staying in posh hotels. True, those are all elements that can make a great trip, but traveling is really about the rich experiences with other cultures and viewing the world as one gigantic classroom. It’s, as John Higham points out, “about discovering how people all over the world are similar, yet different in profoundly subtle ways, and how because of those very differences we were always able to find something to eat, something to wear, and somewhere to sleep.”

It helps you to realize that at the end of the day “humankind in all its wonderful weirdness is the same all over the planet.”

*This is being reposted as it didn’t make it’s way over from Blogger in the move*

Part travelogue and part social commentary and study on happiness around the world, Eric Weiner takes you to some of the happiest and least happy countries in the world. Some of them are poor and some of them are extremely wealthy. Some you’d peg as being happy and some you wouldn’t. It’s an interesting look into what people around the world say makes their country thrive and how THEY view happiness.

The Geography of Bliss is broken into sections by country. I found it to be a pretty interesting read although it’s the type of book that I tend to read while I’m also reading a fiction book as sometimes I just need something to break it up. It’s not my usual thrills and adventure type of travelogue but I really do love learning about different cultures and found this happiness study to be intriguing so I really enjoyed that aspect of The Geography of Bliss. It was thought provoking and I loved thinking about what makes me happy at the core of my being versus others in the world.

I think the one thing I wish about this book is that we would have gotten to know the PEOPLE a little bit more. We get little bits of all these people he is meeting but I find that the one thing I love about travelogues (and my own travel) is really connecting with the people that are written about. I feel like when I read travelogues and travel blogs that I connect really well when writers tell me about people and I find myself falling in love with them and wanting to hop on a plane and meet these people. This book lacked that for me. I wanted to get to know the people of these countries. I think one of my favorite people he encountered was one of his guides. That’s about it.

Final Thought: If you like a travelogue that takes you on an adventure and is full of people the author encountered that just jump off the page, this isn’t it one I’d recommend. If you don’t mind a slower paced commentary on happiness around the world where you get to participate in a little armchair travel to some amazing places and learn some tidbits about other countries and cultures along they way, you might enjoy this one! It was a pretty good read for me but definitely not my favorite travelogue out there…which is pretty disappointing because I HAD to have this one when I saw it on the shelf.

French Milk is every Francophile’s version of p*rn. Seriously, as someone who adored every moment in Paris and who dreams to go back, reading this was the next best thing to satiate the longings I get to sit in a cool Parisian cafe and eat a croissant or to just stare adoringly at the Eiffel Tower while I soak up the rich history of the city of Paris.

French Milk is a travelogue like no other. I’ve read a lot of travelogues so I feel pretty confident in saying this. It is a journal of a six week trip to Paris taken by a twenty something girl and her mother. Lucy, the twenty something, is the lens in which we get to experience the great City of Lights. Rather than filling the pages with the typical wordy descriptions of experiences in foreign lands and retrospective musings as most travelogues, Lucy shares her experiences and feelings straight out of her journal. But unlike most journals, her journal is KICK ASS. She is an amazing artist and aspiring comic book illustrator so the whole book is a mix of comic book like drawings of the things the saw, ate and experienced…along with how she felt along the way. She also incorporated real pictures that she took along the way. It slightly reminded me of my own travel journal minus the fact that I can’t draw.

One of the reasons I really enjoyed this book could possibly be a detractor for other people who aren’t as obsessed about travelogues or Paris as I am. Most of the travelogues I read tend to be pretty fast paced and travel along to different places. What I loved about this is that they pretty much stayed in Paris the whole time. It wasn’t a fast paced, crazy adventure but I really enjoyed getting such a glimpse of the real Paris…not just the tourist’s view of Paris. I truly felt like I experienced Paris in a different way reading about the food and their immersion into the cultural for six weeks. I guess maybe I feel the same way that I feel about travel. Sure, I want to run around and keeping hopping along to as many countries and places as I possibly can see in a span of a week or two. I want to see it all. But ideally, I would love to spend significant time in places and really look beyond the surface. That is the experience I got from this book and I loved it.

That being said, I’ll admit that at sometimes I wish that there would be a little more happening or that I’d really understand some of the things that she learned while she was there..but it really was such a great experience for me. And such a unique and refreshing take on a travelogue.

My Final Thought: French Milk was a unique travelogue that I really enjoyed and read in a matter of hours due to the format of the book. I loved that I felt totally immersed in Parisian life and I found myself wanting to keep this book for reference to find the cool non-touristy cafes and restaurants that she visited during her six weeks of becoming a local of sorts. I’d probably really only recommend this to people who are travelogue addicts like myself and don’t mind something a little slower paced and different than your typical travelogue. Read this if you want to fully be immersed in Parisian life and don’t mind lots of talk of food and museums and art. Get on this one Francophiles and foodies!

How I Got This Book: I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.

I used to read memoirs a lot–memoirs from famous people, memoirs from people who lead extraordinary lives, or memoirs from your average Joe. Anything. I just really enjoy getting another perspective on life no matter if it’s life shattering or just something to contemplate about my life. For whatever reason, I strayed from reading memoirs, so this is my first memoir in about a year and it reaffirms my love for meandering around someone else’s memories as they look at some critical juncture in their life and explore the things that shaped their life and discover pieces of who they are.

Anyways, I want to hug Stacy Pershall in this book. I want to be her friend because she goes through some pretty crazy things! She grew up as one of those genuinely precocious children who is just so misunderstood and was ostracized and thus begins her windy road through “Jesus freakdom,” bulimia, anorexia, manic episodes, messed up relationship and a suicide attempt that will just leave you speechless.

I know what I just described sounds like one crazy depressing memoir but, while it is completely heartwrenching at times, I assure you it’s not like that at all. Stacey is beyond hilarious and witty and I found myself laughing out loud. You know, a real hearty LOL. She writes in such a compelling way that I found myself sometimes shielded from the heaviness of the subject matter, yet at the same time, so incredibly shaken to the core. I felt as though I was on this crazy roller coaster with her and gained perspective into illnesses that I’ve never dealt with before. Another thing I really appreciated was the depth of her introspection. She wasn’t shallow or cliche or blaming circumstances or making excuses or even pretending like she is magically cured now. Instead she gives an honest portrayal of the things that shaped her and really created something quite raw and inspirational that really reflects all those things she’s gleaned from some really dark days in her life and how she’s moved forward.

I will mention that at some times, for someone who really isn’t too familiar with bipolar disorder and many of the other illnesses mentioned, it got a little bit too medical on me. I didn’t feel that it detracted from the memoir at all but sometimes it slowed up my reading even though I was genuinely interested in learning about these illnesses.

My Final Thought: If you enjoy incredibly quirky memoirs that will make you laugh while simultaneously forcing you to grapple with some incredible serious issues (eating disorders, depression, suicide), then this book is for you. I think if you enjoyed any of Marya Hornbacher’s books that you might be interested in picking this one up. I personally enjoyed this one more than any other memoirs dealing with these types of issues. Something about it felt so genuine and I have a feeling that it was very cathartic for Pershall to write. That story needed to come out and I feel as though I could feel the burden she bared become a little bit lesser for her.

What are some other memoirs you’ve enjoyed recently? Similar to this one or otherwise..I’d like to read more memoirs again.

Title/Author: Everything Is Going to Be Great: An Underfunded and Overexposed European Grand Tour by Rachel Shukert
Publisher: Harper Perennial 2010
How I got this book: Sent to me by the awesome people at Harper Perennial
Why I read this: I’m obsessed with travelogues and was so excited because it about a girl who was a recent college grad and I figured I’d be able to live vicariously through her as a recent college grad myself!
Rating: Between 2.5 stars and 3.

This book and I had a love/hate relationship. I started this book and found myself loving it and then I hit a chunk where I wanted to fling at the wall and abandon it and then I got to a place where I didn’t loathe it and then I found myself really enjoying it again.

I think that the subtitle is a little misleading. I had such high expectations for this being a travelogue lover. This was more a series of hilarious sexcapades in 2 countries rather than a “European Grand Tour.” I was so excited about this book because I felt like Rachel and I were kindred spirits and that I’d connect with her plight–being a college grad, not knowing what you want in life, wanting to see the world and just generally being broke and wanting to find yourself. She was all that but I just didn’t find myself connecting with her until maybe the end.

Let me tell you some GREAT things about this book: Rachel is hilarious and the girl can write! I was seriously laughing out loud and dying with some of her descriptions of people and things. I’m impressed by her ability to make something otherwise not that exciting or amusing become something that makes me snort iced tea out of my nose. I also appreciate how honest she is about herself. I connected with that. At first, I found myself rolling my eyes at her and not caring about her because I just thought she was selfish and never learning and growing, but I found myself gaining alot of respect for her and genuinely finding her to be likable. I also thought she was clever in adding all these hilarious “extras” like when you are reading a travel guide and it might have a little boxed off section for things like “how to order food or what to do at the airport.” Instead, her “extras” were things like “Assembling Your Rachel Shukert costume” (with a full on diagram about the “tuck method if you are a male” or “Are You About To Be Sex Trafficked?”. Really clever and hilarious sections.

Things I Didn’t Like/Feel The Need to Warn You About: If you are the least bit offended by explicit sexual details or lots of vulgar language, skip this one! I wouldn’t consider myself a prude but sometimes felt shocked or embarrassed by the details. This book can be raunchy, vulgar and she loves to describe and talk about male anatomy in great detail–chocolate ones, big ones, little ones, uncircumsized ones–penises all over the globe! Also, I didn’t find myself DYING to pick this up. I was trying to finish it during Readathon because I needed the motivation to do it. I got tired of her sexcapades after a while but I will say that in the end she does redeem herself a little bit.

The final thought: In the end I was pretty disappointed with this book as whole. I’d recommend going into it without the expectation that it will be the travelogue of a college grad. Read it if you wished David Sedaris and Chelsea Handler had smart assed, hilariously hip child. Don’t pick this book up if you will be offended by sex and foul language.